In all my years of architecture school and practice, there seems to be a pervasive myth that my job is pretty and easy. Here, I reveal the painful, ugly truth about why it takes so long to build a building, what it is exactly that we do, and why that's not creamer you smell in my coffee.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Tomorrow is my last regular site visit to Wheatlands before the punchlists begin. For those who aren't familiar with the concept, a punchlist is both an object and a process. The architect walks around the building, or a portion of the building, and checks each room to make sure it's spot-on perfect. No dents or blobs of paint on the walls, no peeling plastic laminate on the counters and cabinets, no wrinkles in the wall base, no stains or kinks in the carpet, no dings in the ceiling tiles, all sprinklers and pipes in walls and ceilings have escutcheon plates...you get the picture. Anything that needs to be fixed is noted by the architect, either on a checklist or on a tape recorder, and they also often put a piece of painter's tape or small colored stickers next to the offending blemish. Sometimes the contractor walks with the architect, sometimes not. Then, the architect writes up the list (called a punchlist) and gives it to the contractor to be rectified. My first punchlist is next week. What this means is that I've got to make the almost-seven-hour round trip to Wheatlands, Kansas and back to Denver once a week for the next six weeks instead of the usual every-other-week trip that I've made for the past ten months. Good thing I get reimbursed for mileage.

You know, I have never done a punch list on a building. I was sitting here thinking about it. Is it a visual inspection to check for clean and proper appearance or is it a quality control activity verify proper functioning of the building?

If it is an appearance inspection you can walk thru the building and make notes or mark the building up.

If it is a quality control activity a walk thru won't do it. You will need to find a way to test the building. How responsive are the HVAC systems? Do the fire sensors work? How do you test a roof? How do you test a door?

Do you have a guy slam it 1,000 times? This would be testing the door as installed. The door may be tested and certified by the manufacturer but the door may suffer from a faulty installation and you would not see it because the problem is hidden in a wall.

A lot of this quality control is done informally as the building is built but the informal processes do not catch the unusual problems they may crop later with use or age. This process also will not reliably uncover poor skills or negligence

One thing that would help would to formalize the informal processes. Have everything documented in some way. This would dramatically improve the quality of the end product, but would add expense to the project.

If just the name of the person who installed each door was recorded you could look for patterns of problems and you might learn that all the doors that bind were installed by Joe. Then Joe could get some training to help improve his door installation skills. Then any job he does in the future will not have that problem. Joe could demand more money because he has better skills. You could be assured of better cost control on future projects because quality of people doing the work is always increasing.

Thanks for reading this pie in the sky bit. Now that I have thrown it into the air I expect it to fall and hit me on the head.

You both bring up good topics, Bax and Faded. Before interior punch ever happens, we do a core-shell/structural punch where we check for sloping slabs and major catastrophes. Then my check is fairly extensive in that it is cosmetic and functional. Does the door close? Does it latch? Does it open easily too? Are there paint nicks or blobs? Is the water running? do the toilets completely flush and refill? Does the sink drip when water flows into the drain? Is the p.lam fully adhered? Surprisingly, I've never had to take a flashlight along---I'm a picky bitch when it comes to punchlisting, and I'll rip a piece of rubber wall base clean off to make sure you replace it without wrinkles. I go hands and knees in some places to make sure no one's pulling shoddy workmanship on me.

"Tear the whole thing out and rebuild it! This is shoddy workmanship! Journeyman carpenter my ass! By the way, we've got concrete/owners/money guys coming in 30 mins. I'd get on the stick if I was you."

About Me

I'm a (finally) licensed architect out here in the wild, wild West who kicks butts and punches lists. I focus on designing hospitals, which--between the program and the clients--is a real challenge. I like what I do for a living, and have the site observation photos to prove it. My job is part designer, part technician, part software guru, part counselor, part therapist, part spiritual guide, and part repo man. So don't toy with me, or I'll refuse to sign your Pay Application.

Note and Disclaimer

The content on this blog is not approved by my employers, fellow employees, or any professional organization involved in the design or construction industry. The opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone and should not be considered representative of the opinions of my employers or my profession.
Any professional opinions, design concepts, layouts, and details should be taken with a grain of salt and a large margarita. This blog should not be used in place of consulting a design or construction professional in person, nor should it be a substitute for having a professional review your particular project.
All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the innocent as well as the guilty.
No, I will not design your deck for you.